Heroine
by hmweasley
Summary: When a prophecy threatens her son, Narcissa is prepared to give up everything she knows to save him. Even if that means asking for help from the person she's hurt most.


**A/N: This was written for hillstar using Remus/Narcissa, (genre) AU, (word) heroine.**

**Warnings: Mentions of character death and war.**

**Word count: 1,383**

* * *

After several years of war, Remus' senses had never been better attuned to his surroundings. The second he arrived at the small, rundown flat that was his current home, he knew someone was inside though he couldn't pinpoint what felt different.

Most would have been alarmed in the same position, but Remus felt strangely calm. He couldn't have explained how, but he knew the intruder was Narcissa before he found her at his kitchen table with a small, sleeping baby clutched in her arms.

"What are you doing here?"

He tried to keep his voice stern, a reminder of all she had put him through, but it broke instead, ruining the illusion and revealing how much of an effect she still had on him.

"You're going to get us both killed," he stressed, his hands shaking at the thought of harm coming to her.

She looked at him with a blank expression that broke his heart. He was used to seeing it on her but only around others, never when it was just the two of them. Seeing it directed towards him was what he had feared most when she'd told him she was marrying Lucius Malfy.

"That doesn't matter," she said. "I've already made myself their enemy."

The child—Draco, Remus reminded himself—started to fuss. Narcissa brought him to her shoulder and rubbed his back without so much as glancing at him. Her eyes remained on Remus, just as distant as before.

"What are you talking about?" Remus asked, ice filling his veins.

He lowered himself onto the chair across from Narcissa, watching for signs of fear, but she didn't seem disturbed by the possibility of death. She had resigned herself to it as she had resigned herself to everything else in her life. Bile stung at the back of Remus' throat.

"There's been a prophecy," she said, a small crack in her voice the first sign that she wasn't as calm as she appeared. "A seer has seen the downfall of the Dark Lord."

Remus sucked in a sharp breath.

"But that's great," he said, leaning forward in his chair. It was all he could manage to keep himself from getting up and pacing as adrenaline rushed through his veins. "If we know how to defeat him—"

"It's my son."

Narcissa's words were spoken quietly, but they held enough power that Remus froze, the adrenaline zapped from him quicker than it had come. The nausea returned, forcing Remus to press his lips together to keep it contained.

"My son must vanquish the Dark Lord when the time comes."

One hand continued to pat the baby's back as she spoke. Remus let himself really look at the baby for the first time. He'd spent a long time wanting to ignore its existence, but he felt a new sense of empathy for the infant. He was now in more danger than anyone else in the wizarding world, yet he was too young to understand what was happening to him.

"What are you talking about?" Remus asked, still clinging to hope that it wasn't as bad as it sounded.

Draco wasn't even a year old. If he was meant to kill Voldemort, the war had a decade or more left to go. After the many they'd already lost, they couldn't hold on that long without losing countless more.

"The only child we know of who fits the prophecy is Draco." She glanced at her son for the first time. "A woman named Sybil Trelawney delivered the prophecy in front of Albus Dumbledore, but Severus Snape, spying on the Dark Lord's behalf, heard it all. He came to us—Lucius and I—at great risk to himself. He gave us the choice of never revealing what he heard to the Dark Lord, but Lucius was adamant that we must offer Draco up as some kind of sacrifice.

The tears she'd been bottling inside broke free, preventing her from speaking further. She bowed her head and pressed her lips to the top of Draco's head. Remus sat silently, not sure what comfort she was prepared to receive from him though he longed to wrap his arms around her. He waited patiently until Narcissa's shining eyes met his.

"I can't let him do that," she said, hatred lacing her voice and forcing Remus to lean back in his seat. "I don't care what it means for me. Even if it kills me, I won't offer my son on a silver platter."

He suddenly understood why she'd come to him years after she'd sworn she'd have nothing to do with him again. Narcissa had more connections than anyone else he knew in the wizarding world, except perhaps Albus Dumbledore, yet he was the only person she knew whom she actually trusted.

"I've hurt you," Narcissa whispered. Tears still dripped down her cheeks. "My biggest regret in life is what I've done to you, but you're the only one who can help me, Remus. I don't know where else to go. I don't know how to stay hidden from them. No one else in the Order of the Phoenix would dare help me unless I have someone to vouch for me."

"I'll keep you safe," he said firmly.

He reached across the table holding his hand with the palm up in a silent offering. She took it with a small smile, and despite the circumstances, Remus skin felt electrified when they touched. Even with the tears sparkling in her eyes, Narcissa was as captivating as she'd always been. Just as when they'd been students, he was incapable of saying no.

* * *

_Four Years Later_

Hiding from the Dark Lord and his followers meant a new life unlike anything Narcissa was used to. When she'd escaped, she'd been focused only on finding safety for her child. Little thought had been given to the life that would come afterward. Though she'd known that Remus was involved with the Order of the Phoenix, she had been sure that no one would expect her to fight.

And they hadn't, for the most part, but she hadn't anticipated that she'd make that decision for herself after mere months of being under Albus Dumbledore's protection.

She stared down at the wand she held loosely in her hands. It had been her constant companion since she was eleven years old and the only object—aside from the clothes on her back—that she'd taken with her during her escape from Malfoy Manor.

She'd always been sentimental about inanimate objects, even when it led to her family's scorn, and the loss of everything she knew had strengthened her sense of attachment to her wand. That was what made the aftermath of her actions even harder to bear.

It had been her who had cast Avada Kedavra three days before, but it was the wand that had made it happen. Looking at it made her sick.

"Narcissa?"

Remus' quiet voice startled her. From her perch on the bed in their darkened room, she looked up at him. It was late; he must have been putting Draco to bed. She hadn't thought to check on him. The realization sent a new pang of regret through her. She'd forgotten to take care of Draco, the child who she'd killed for several days previously.

"I'm glad he's gone," Narcissa said in a low, shaky voice. They both knew she was speaking of Lucius without needing to say his name out loud. "I watched the life leave his eyes and felt relief. Does that make me a monster?"

Remus rushed forward, letting the door to their bedroom swing shut and envelope the room in more darkness. It didn't matter. Narcissa's eyes had already adjusted to the dim light, and she saw him well enough as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. She came easily despite feeling unworthy of the affection.

"You're not a monster," he assured her, the words enveloping her as effectively as his embrace. "You're a heroine. He would have killed you and Draco without a second thought. Being upset shows that you're a better person than him. It's more than he deserved."

Narcissa pressed her eyes shut and rubbed her face against his robes as she tried to get comfortable. He was warm. In that moment, nothing else mattered.


End file.
